Seven reasons why the Kubiak contact extension is A Good Thing

As you likely know, if The General is saying weeks ago that he thinks it is likely that Kubiak is going to receive a contract extension, it is because he has birdies tweeting that in his ear.

I write my thoughts about the extension over at FanHouse. Most of what I wrote is likely familiar to long time readers here, but I thought I’d share it to non-Texan fans on that site as well. [Update: Turns out they didn’t agree to an extension but rather a brand new contract that runs through 2012 and is the same duration as his assistant coaches. I’d change the headline, but I don’t want to bust the link].

In short, I’m good with the extension. Various reasons:

1. Reduces distractions. With the coach killer schedule of next year, most of the off-season stories on the Texans would all have “Hotseat” in the title. If winning is your priority, then you reduce distractions. Everyone knows that even with a contract, firing is a possibility with poor performance but not as much as it is with a lame duck contract.

3. Confidence. Demonstrates confidence from the top of the organization to bottom in a young team that is in the process of believing in itself.

4. Kubiak was given a poor team to remake. Part of that was that he was sold by Charlie Casserly and then consultant Dan Reeves that “David Carr was not the problem with the Texans.” Not having a solid quarterback delayed the rebuilding of the team, though it allowed the Texans to pick quality defensive players with high round picks in 2006. It’s hard to develop a quarterback while you are also developing the rest of a team. Much easier to develop a team if you already have an established quarterback, or to develop a quarterback if they are surrounded by a veteran defense and a good running game.

5. Kubiak came into a tough division. The AFC South has been the toughest division in the league over the last decade. He didn’t have the benefit of beating up perennial doormats because he acquired the team that had traditionally got feet wiped on it.

7. What was the replacement? The Texans offense is very much built to fit the system they run. A lot of the high profile names that are out there don’t look like they are interested to coach again, so then you would have ended up with yet another unproven assistant. Yup, most coaches start off as assistants somewhere, but you already have your sunk costs with Kubiak. The team likes and respects him and so does the owner, so why switch?

Since Kubiak has become coach of the Texans, the product on the field actually looks like NFL football. Prior to that, even in their 2004 7-9 season, a lot of times it looked like they were just trying to play ugly ball and to hope the ball happened to bounce right in the 4th quarter.

You can see a direction and a philosophy and can look at moves the Texans make and know why they made those moves. Like with most NFL teams, some moves work, and some moves don’t, but at least you can see some reasoning behind the moves.

I know the reasons against wanting a contract extension but I don’t find them persuasive. There may be some teams in the league that believe that any news–good or bad–is good for their team, but I don’t think Bob McNair has much of a taste for promoting media circuses and speculation. Both the team and the owner like and respect Kubiak, so there’s not much sense in blowing up the team when it looks like they are improving each year.

• • •

The Julius Peppers Watch

Speaking of media circusing and speculation, the agent for Julius Peppers announced yesterday that he does not expect Peppers back in Carolina. Sounds to me like posturing because I think they’d franchise him at a huge price just so they can get some possibility of compensation for letting him go.

In light of this news, a Panthers beat reporter put up his list of Julius Peppers landing spots for next year. The Texans are listed as a sleeper pick.

Mentioned this is the comments of the last post, and not because I think it is going to happen, but just because as a fan you might want to know the talk that is out there.

60 Responses

If you did bring in Peppers (the idea is making me tremble) what would you do with Antonio Smith? Rotate them I guess. Wow, Mario, Smith and Peppers. Just a dream, just a dream.

On Kubiak and his extension, I had hardly commented on the other thread about before I heard on a sports radio show that Kubiak could still be fired next year. Meh…yeah but not really. It isn’t even the money really, but the whole point of telling the new coaches he would be extended is to tell them Kubiak will be here beyond next year. It is to make a commitment to them that they not moving their families around for a one year gig.

So…short of a disaster of 2-14 proportions or the team quitting on him Kubiak is indeed here for at least 2 years I think. Honestly I like that because I don’t think they’ll get there next year. The schedule is tough.

No comment about the Ray Wright firing? You defended him last year, young guy fresh ideas, too many injuries, time for a change. Everyone jumped on the Riley firing last year and said he was old school and that some new ideas were needed despite the guy having 3 super bowl rings and mentioned by name in multiple HOF speeches by some of the best athletes to play the game. “Training movements not muscles, muscle confusion,etc.” was going to be the new thing that Wright installed. As you know, the strength coach sees every player and can have a significant impact on health and well being of players. Any mention of too many injuries this year? Nope, not by anyone. Don’t see one Texan player coming to Wright’s defense like they did in the Justice article last year. Did you ever READ his writings on the web?? I am a strength coach, and he is an idiot. So what happened to get him fired after only ONE YEAR!!!

[The firing was just announced for the first time. Last night. During Super Bowl week. As a small item in a much more important Texan story. So, unless Justice gets a bee in his bonnet about this subject, it is likely not going to get much Texan player commentary because most columnists don’t really want to spend any time commenting on the comings and goings of strength and conditioning coaches. I’ll likely talk about this some coming up. This year, the Texans were near the top of the league with starters on IR, and about in the middle of the league with starters missing games due to injuries. Everyone gets evaluated at the end of a season, and I am guessing that for whatever reasons, the current staff believes they could improve in this area. I believe that the transition last year was likely very awkward. Players buy into a strength and conditioning program. How do you buy into the S&C program of the guy who was just the protege of the guy you didn’t renew his contract? There are very few holdovers from the Casserly era–both S&C guys are gone and the only remaining assistants are the very experienced coaches Chick Harris (RB coach) and Joe Marciano (ST coach). Kubiak has been transitioning his staff over time, and I’m guessing this is just one area that he wants to improve. As you know, the S&C staff spends a ton of time with the players, so they will want to take care of who they choose. I’m guessing we won’t get the full story on this stuff because the Texans don’t like to publicize negative stuff, and are usually good at keeping things in-house. -Steph]

1. Reduces distractions – Ehhh, Kubes seems pretty good at that on his own. He’s great at saying nothing. Fair enough though, that’s a benefit.

2. Builds a program – Chris at Diehards had some pretty good points on this that I agree with; I really doubt it’s a big impact. Might be a tie-breaker for a free agent, but money is the only convincing most need.

3. Confidence – I’d rather the coach build confidence in us than we build confidence into the coach.

4. Kubiak was given a poor team to remake – Absolutely agree. He was also given 4 years though, this isn’t a situation where he’s fired after 2.

5. Kubiak came into a tough division – Absolutely agree and Kubes shouldn’t be judged as harshly for the losses he has suffered in light of this.

6. Continuity – Agree, but they could do this by not firing him. Think Kubes’ offensive system is top of the line but the rest of his coaching, particularly the people he has chosen to run the defense and their results, have been mixed at best.

7. What was the replacement? – Again, didn’t need a replacement yet, particularly since theres a possibility we have a labor dispute in 2011. I respect Kubes but I don’t think he earned an extension, and I don’t think he’d tell you he did either.

Someone brought this up when I started talking about Kubes in the middle of last season: Tom Coughlin was thought to be a lame duck coach in 2007. I guess I don’t see the conventional wisdom of security as very convincing on this subject.

[Coughlin was also a coach that had a very veteran team. Overall, your point about the labor unrest I believe goes to support the Kubiak extension. In uncertain times, it is best to have strong leadership and direction and a philosophy that you are working toward. A plan for dealing with the labor situation. To make Kubiak a short timer, you make the rest of the staff short timers, which creates more chaos with having new people trying to learn about each other. In other words, a mess. -Steph]

I was hoping for Peppers last year, but we got Smith instead, which worked out fine. I think if they were able to get him this time, Smith would move inside where he’s actually better. Makes me kinda giddy thinking of Peppers and Williams on the same line…omg omg omg.

Oh, did you see during the Pro Bowl where they were talking to Brandon Marshall about playing for the Texans and catching td passes from Schaub? They were kinda pushing the issue, I thought, and then right after that Brandon Marshall went right up to Schaub and asked him what he thought of it too? I thought that was pretty intreaguing, and I actually started liking the idea alot.

It’s starting to sound more and more often like the Texans are becoming players in the free agent market this year. Reporters and bloggers alike have been adding Houston to possible lists lately. Is it a sign?

I couldn’t be happier for Kubiak. I’m glad to see the team show their support by keeping him to finish what he started. Now I want to see Rick Smith do the same thing for Owen and Demeco. Solidify the continuity they are focused on right now as we head into the draft. Make it so that noone really knows what for sure the Texans will go for because they lock up key positions.

I look forward to reading your threads on here every day, so keep up the great work!

P.S.- I sure am looking to see who the new running backs will be for the Texans this year when they let Chris Brown and others go. I’m so hoping they get one in one of the first couple rounds. Too many teams were successful with only a running game this year for the Texans to go another year without one.

Two main reasons for me are continuity and who would you replace him with?

Old saying in life … don’t jump from one lily pad to another unless you have a better lily pad to jump to.

Also, changing regimes every 2 to 3 years largely doesn’t get you a better team. Examples: the Lions and the Browns.

Have a plan and stick to it and don’t be deterred by obvious knee jerk reactions.

I mean can we definitively say that coaching has cost us more games than we could have and should have won the last few years?

The road to becoming a champion is never an easy one. It requires skill, talent, determination, preparation and yes, a little bit of luck.

In my opinion, the Texans have laid the foundation for greatness to be around the corner. All these top drafts of last few years, 2 DROY’s in 4 years, more pro bowlers and all pro selections. Now even our QB is getting recognized Pro Bowl MVP in his first ever appearance. Even the ESPN pundits are starting to believe that Matt Schaub is good, REALLY good.

Cue Gruden in the 4th … “well its money time so Turner is going to put in Schaub to go for the win!”

When was the last time a Texans QB … ? Try never. Believe it or not, Houston we’ve got a QB and he’s STILL getting better.

You have to lay the foundation and start with a solid cornerstone before you can commence to building …

Keep your chin up Texans fans, good times are a coming … 😀

[“well its money time so Turner is going to put in Schaub to go for the win!” Heck, back in 2005, it was unfathomable that the Texans would have a quarterback in the Pro Bowl, much less as MVP. I think some people forget how abysmal the team was. There was a total void of hope. -S]

It seems Very few on the blogs think Kubiak will be successful enough next season to have earned a new contract. Read the past blogs right before that four game losing streak. There was so much “I told you so” crap and now its back again.

[I’m not very interested in told you so stuff either way. I think there are very few clear, easy choices in life. Usually told you so’s of any stripe have a ton of luck involved. If you have an opinion on something, even if it is fully informed, and it turned out to be right or wrong, has less to do with your opinion and more to do with providence. -S]

My problem with Kubiak is threefold: (1) he is not a driver / disciplinarian to lead men to win, witness our continuing litany of close losses during more than 2009, (2) he is too comfortable with ideas and people he has worked with and doesn’t flesh out anyone to his staff with non-Kubiak backgrounds, and (3) his teams make too many mistakes of penalties, clock blunders, and red flags.

I do think he is a brilliant offensive coordinator, witness what he had done with Shaub and Johnson over the last several years. He has proven that a team can score without a running game.

Yes, we had to give him an extension now as no one respects a lame duck coach. It was that or fire him now; that’s what I would have done.

The idea that there is no one who could replace him is nonsense. It’s a big league with lots of talent.

But, in doing so I believe Texans have committed themselves to an effort limited by only making the playoffs. My long-time fear of Kubiak is that we won’t ever win a Super Bowl, and that’s the only reason for playing the game. Said another way, I want a coach for Texans who drives to dominate the opposition and won’t settle for anything else. Does anyone think Kubiak is that guy?

In still other words, I want as the coach for Texans the football equivalent of Tom Brands — Iowa’s wrestling coach.

Course I could be wrong….

[So you wanted to fire him. Who did you want? Most of the offense is put together in a way that favors the old Denver scheme I would disagree with the disciplinarian stuff–I’ve talked to players who have been struggling and though they like and respect him, they certainly do not want to be in his doghouse. There are some members of his staff that “do not have Kubiak” backgrounds, but typically head coaches want people around them that are familiar with the direction that they want to go. Kubiak certainly wants to go to the Super Bowl, but clearly you have to get to the playoffs to get a chance. -Steph]

My biggest dissapointment isn’t with the Texans but with some of the “fans.” They throw out unrealistic ideas like ” Hire cowher” or sign every superstar free agent. The bottom line is that no one wanted the job back when smithiak was hired so deal with it. even now those coaches would rather do other things than coach an NFL team. As far as free agents, those people should call Dan Snyder and ask how playing fantasy football in real life has worked out. just my two cents.

Stephanie, At 2-14 “There was a total void of hope”, indeed! Now at 9-7, an offense that is one of the best, without an effective ground game & a defense that continues to improve & impress, Kubiak deserves the opportunity to see his contract through. He has earned it. And to those that still believe that Kubiak should be fired due to a lack of a playoff berth, I disagree completely. He is the best man for the job according to the players, coaches & McNair’s wallet. Name one ‘available’ coach that can continue this team’s improvement. There are none. The Houston Texans have a coach, the coach to take them further. How much further, only time will tell, but firing him now makes absolutely no sense at all.

I don’t think you can say enough about how Kubiak has remade the roster. There are several “keeper” players on the current roster. The roster he inherited had maybe 5, including the kicker and punter. Now they have at least twice that many that would be signed quickly if Houston let them go. Most of those guys are players Kubiak has built up, whether it was bringing in good draft picks and building them up or taking a backup QB and building him into a star.

Critics say they haven’t made the playoffs or won enough. I say 9 is a heck of a lot better than 2. The stats that tell us how and why the team won or lost look a lot better as well – closer games, scoring more, allowing less. At the end of the day, you really only need one reason why Kubiak got and deserved an extension. He has improved the team every year. There is no reason to believe the trend will not continue next season. Critics may say they only improved one game. I say keep that up every year, and one year you’ll be undefeated.

As for Peppers, I don’t think he would help Houston much. He is a me-first player, and I think the Texans defensive line would be helped more by bringing in someone in the middle rather than the end. Also, it’s not like Carolina has so many star players that they can easily replace him if he is that good. Learn from the Ahman Green situation – if a team lets a player go they could have kept with no obvious replacement available, he must not be that good. No Peppers for me, thank you.

I think the most important thing you wrote is in the first point: if Kubiak doesn’t perform, he can still be fired irrespective of the remaining years on his contract.

If you expect Kubiak to get to the playoffs next year — or at least do well in the division — it makes sense to give him the best possible opportunity to do so. A contract extension that mirrors the contracts of all of his assistants and the GM puts everyone in a position to focus on winning.

You can still clean house next year if they don’t win, but I doubt that would happen anyway…

I think the next most important point is the labor situation. There is a real chance that the 2011 season won’t be a full year, and may not be any year at all. Once McNair decided to bring Kubiak back for 2010, it made no sense at all to have his contract end right before a strike or lockout is likely.

The only way I expect Kubiak to be fired is if he fails to improve next year AND the labor situation is resolved before the offseason begins. What top-tier coach is going to take over a team just in time for a lockout? What would be the point? Even if a lockout is avoided, it is very likely that the deal will be last-minute, and the 2011 offseason will be extremely strange and uncertain. That would be a terrible time to bring in a new head coach.

After the labor issue is resolved, McNair will be in a position to decide if he has a better chance to win with a different coach. At that point, Kubiak will probably have only 1 year left on his contract anyway. Why is that a big deal?

Given the labor circumstances, the new contract is a complete no-brainer.

[And you know this how? Maybe it was Rick Smith’s pick. Maybe it was a transitional pick. We will likely not know the thought process that went into this because usually the Texans do not comment on departing staff members, and they tend to keep things in house. -S]

I guess by reading the comments above, Rex Ryan is a heck of an offensive coach to have such a good running game WITHOUT a passing game. Shouldn’t a great offensive coach be able do design running plays and passing plays ?

The Texans had absolutely no success prior to Kubiak’s arrival. In fact, they were absolutely pathetic most of the time. The team is now on the verge of the playoffs, has a top 5 offense, and a young and rising defense. Why would any fan not want the guy to stick around? Because he can’t guarantee us a Super Bowl? How about a winning record first… Oh yeah, he just gave us that.

I agree with you Steph. The contract for Kubiak is a no-brainer. I just don’t get the opposition.

[I don’t think it is a no-brainer. The opposing view is that it has taken far too long to build a competent defense, Kubiak does the passing game best and not much more, the schedule was soft last year and the Texans didn’t take advantage and they were 1-5 in division and has done poorly in division since the beginning. That perhaps Kubiak is best suited for the coordinator job and not as a head coach. That they could do a better job in attracting impact free agents.That maybe you need a different coach to get them over the hump, like Gruden did with Tampa Bay. That Kubiak could do better at his game/clock management, and prepare his team with more consistent effort. My difficulty with that point of view is that I do not think there is a realistic coaching option that would have come in and magically fix all these things with a complete staff. I see a number of the Texans problems as being one more of filling in needs at players and not so much with scheme, motivation or game day decisions. All coaches have strengths and weaknesses, and with what I’ve seen so far, I think I’d like to see what additional progress Kubiak makes with this team. So far, I think even without picking any players, their off-season moves look to address some of the issues they had last season. -Steph]

It makes sense to do this do this before the draft becaise it lets the personnel people know that Kubiak(and probably Frank Bush) are going to be around for a few years and they can draft according to scheme(s). I don’t think that Kubiak is a great head coach but neither were Tom Flores, Brian Billick, or Tom Coughlin. He does what he does and he gets better players to work with every year. The future looks pretty good.

Wright was training the head coaches sons. No greater endorsement of a strength coach by a head coach. An interim or transitional strength coach? Defies logic. Rick Smith doesn’t seem to be that kind of GM. He has a history of building for the long run.

[Did you read what Justice was writing last year regarding Rick Smith? As for interim, Riley’s contract was up. Perhaps they couldn’t get the guy they really wanted. Ultimately, there’s no need to speculate on this stuff because we will likely not find out the answers because they try to keep things in-house. They evaluate everyone at the end of the year, and obviously they wanted to go in a different direction. -Steph]

sign peppers to a 3 year contract and draft a dam good fs and dt and we will go to the superbowl for the next 3 years.we will be a bigger badder version of the colts ends in freeney and mathis,i’m gonna keep praying that it happens..please at least try mr.mcnair..

[It may not be just a question of price, giving Peppers a ginormous contract and skewing the price structure for your whole team. If the Panthers franchise him, it is giving something of large value to the Panthers too. I think it is the longest of shots–I don’t see it happening. -Steph]

Ugh. You’re still on the “We could never get a better coach here” kick.

I love your blog, but I just disagree with you so much it’s not even funny. This is a big city. A great town. With a great stadium, etc. We can get any coach we wanted here. Let’s stop with the “Who else could we get?” stuff. Please?

And, you say that the reasons for not extending Kubiak are “not persuasive.” And yours are? Yours sound like excuses, with all due respect.

Distractions? You know as well as I do that this coach, and the players, don’t respond until their backs are against the wall. Some people are just like that. You have to give them a little push to motivate them.

The “distractions” argument is so vague and lame, and it’s just bs sports talk. Ok, so the media asks the players about their coach every week. So?

Confidence? McNair has given Gary a Trillion dollars already. If Gary wanted to buy each player a gold plated Mercedes to make them feel better, McNair would say ok. McNair has already shown his confidence in Gary and the players.

I just don’t get it. There is a coach in New Orleans that was hired five seconds after Kubiak, and has done astonishing things in four years. Yet, we have to make little Kubby feel comfortable and happy and extend him.

The most coddled coach in the NFL, bar none.

[Which coach is available that you would rather have? Do you think Tampa Bay wishes they had Gruden back? If you are going to make a coaching change, you better have a better guy, with a good staff ready to go or you are going backwards. The Texans situation in 2005 was much worse than the Saints–their season was artificially bad because of the moving around due to Katrina. AND, the Saints had the benefit of getting their franchise QB in 2006 in Drew Brees. They get a 6 foot QB coming off of serious shoulder surgery on his throwing arm that scared just about everyone else off. They are fortunate that it worked out for them, and the Dolphins were hating it because they tried to get Brees but took Culpepper and his knee instead. Kubiak was stuck with David Carr–the QB that the Texans consultant Dan Reeves along with Casserly said “was not a problem.” “Reasons” for things exist. You can ignore them by calling them “excuses,” but that is just rhetoric used by those who want to ignore the facts. The extension is not a matter of making Kubiak feel comfortable. It is putting the team in the best stable environment to win–if McNair doesn’t like Kubiak’s performance he can still can him. -S]

I believe, if a decent deal ( highly improbable) could be done to bring Peppers here, it would truely raise Mario to Super status…. Since his birth as a Texan, who has he had as a mentor… I now he’s been here for a few years now, but he’s self taught…just my 2 cents.

Basically, the goal is to evaluate quarterbacks for game winning/tying comeback drives, while accounting for the situation (drive starting distance) and correcting for things not the fault of the QB/offense (missed or made field goals deviating from the average based on distance, defense giving up a score after scoring, etc.)

Schaub is number 6 (based on data from the past ~12 years) and in elite company. I think correcting for all the heartbreak missed field goals and defense giving up scores after an offensive comeback puts Schaub in a better, more realistic evaluation.

Interestingly, Mr. Clutch, Tom Brady, isn’t that high on the list. His defense always gave him good situations with respect to clock and yard line, and Vinatieri never missed. The Peyton is high on the list, but not at the tops. Actually, kid bro Manning is. Peyton would be tops by a pretty big margin if you only looked at what he did since 2002, though. He started terribly in the NFL with comeback drives and eventually became the best, but that terrible start still holds him back. I think that (observation that Peyton has been the best over the past 7 years) is consistent with our observations.

Thanks for keeping me excited about football during boring times. Can’t wait to see our Texans next year. Kubiak got a new contract and this is a good thing. Your reasons are very valid. However, next year’s schedule is brutal and if we start losing early, I can already hear the chants of why we rehired him. There is no team that we play next year that we can’t beat and I am pretty sure none of those teams want to play us. If there is one thing that I would like for Kubes to do this coming year is to go for the throat when we have a lead. Kubes has kept us in all of our games except the first one. Can Kubes really been responsible for those two fumbles (Jacksonville, Phoenix) or those missed field goals.

” Ultimately, there’s no need to speculate on this stuff because we will likely not find out the answers because they try to keep things in-house.”-S

I know you are very busy but that response to many comments is getting redundant. Kubiak is not exactly keeping things in house when half of his replies to questions are, “We simply didn’t execute. We need to execute better.”… I can see all the players rolling their eyes. That is a criticism of players not doing their job on a “Great” play call. I never hear Kubiak say, “Well, we should have called a different play against that defense. Or we should have called more blitzes. Us coaches didn’t execute.” Yeah, I know, He always says, “This loss is on me,” but the “WE didn’t execute” is spoken much more often.

[That’s a different issue. (Though I believe he takes more responsibility for the coaching decisions than he puts it on the players, though through your comment, you seem to disagree with that). As it relates to departing coaches and staff members, they do not go into details about why folks left. Even if it is a situation where the media may disagree with the decision, they don’t talk publicly about those things. I hear whispers of things from time to time, but I don’t publish whispers. -Steph]

I’m sorry that we have such a poor coach that he apparently can’t do his job properly if he is in the last year of his deal and doesn’t have an extension in his back pocket.

I’m sorry that situation somehow creates distractions and a lack of belief in the locker room.

I’m sorry the owner feels his coach is unable to do his job successfully under those conditions (those same conditions under which other coaches have been able to perform — see Wade Philips 2009).

I’m sorry that after four years the coach still hasn’t been able to put together a winning season when he is playing against teams who are trying to win and actually play their starters for an entire game (if you actually believe the Texans would have won their final game in the 2009 season had the Patriots been playing for a play-off spot — I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you).

I’m sorry we all have to endure another year of mediocrity and at the end of the season Bob McNair is going to have to eat a bunch of money to rectify the situation he has put himself into.

And I’m especially sorry for all the season ticket holders who have been spending their hard earned money and time waiting for a winner — and will continue to wait.

I’m amused at the folks who think this “extension” of Kubiak’s contract seems to imply that he is now deemed impervious by ownership. Hey people, it is in fact a common practice to fire coaches (head or otherwise) mid-contract. Don’t get your undies in a wad. Trust me, if Kubiak leads the team to a 6-10 season next year, he’s fired.

The division being what it is has it made it tough. Do you realize if Manning got hurt how wide open the division would be?

[No doubt. But he will never get hurt. He talked at the SB press today about how individual milestones do not matter to him except for the one where he has stayed on the field. He wants to be there for his teammates, and wants them to be there for him. The Peyton’s magic is strong: http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/11/17/peyton-manning-is-a-witch/ -Steph]

You forgot Reason Number 8: Results don’t matter to McNair, as long as the lemming fans keep buying tickets.

[I’m a season ticket holder. Been since the beginning. I’d like to see more wins but I have to say I’ve certainly been entertained in recent years. It’s a good thing that McNair gets his sellouts because it allows him to let football people make football decisions. Over in Jacksonville, there’s tons of pressure to draft Tim Tebow–despite his wonky, slow throwing motion that makes old Byron Leftwich look like he got rid of the ball fast–they may be very tempted to do so because they will lose their team if they don’t sell more tickets. McNair honestly believes he will win faster if he doesn’t hit the reset button. A lot of football people agree with him. I do too. -Steph]

“Reasons” for things exist. You can ignore them by calling them “excuses,” but that is just rhetoric used by those who want to ignore the facts.

Absolutely right, and it’s also flat out lazy thinking as well–like looking at a guy who gets 30 starts in the majors and goes 8-15 with a 3.20 ERA with 200 IP and saying he’s a lousy pitcher because of his W-L record. This kind of talk bugs me to no end.

Thanks for phrasing this so succinctly–I’m going to write it in Sharpie across the top of my screen.

It doesn’t say much for the koolaid drinkers’ confidence in Kubiak that his defenders do so only because they say there’s not a better coach on the market. Just because it was a disaster when we fired Capers and hired an unknown doesn’t necessarily mean we’d miss again by hiring another unknown. It’s worth a shot isn’t it?

I understand the reasons for the extension and i am pleased with the improvements of the team. I’ve been saying this team is fun to watch and much more enjoyable then what we had before. the defensive improvements is what gets me so excited for next season, and kubiak has always made Defense a huge factor in the previous offseasons.

but the bottom line is their is no excuse for not winning double digit games and make the playoffs. and no excuse for not at the VERY least going .500 in the division. if we have another season with no playoffs and a losing record in our division kubiak should be fired, regardless of the new contract.

” Kubiak was stuck with David Carr–the QB that the Texans consultant Dan Reeves along with Casserly said “was not a problem.””

This is why it is so infuriating rooting for the Texans. The Texans PR department and their surrogates can say just about anything whether it’s true or obfuscates the truth.

It’s so tiring listening to diatribes on Kubiak being compared to Tom Landry, ridiculous stats stating that Jacques Reeves isn’t so bad after all, the only fair comparison with today’s Texans involve Cleveland, Detroit, Tampa Bay, or the 2005 Texans, and any achievement made by anyone is either accomplished via luck, divine providence or both – which for some unexplained reason never seems to side with the Texans.

How about this? Michael Vick was running dog fighting operations for years. If his crimes are revealed just 4 months earlier do the Falcons trade Schaub to the Texans? I very seriously doubt it. Did that bit of fortune go the Texans way? I should say so. Ah, so it is possible that God sometimes does grace the Texans.

So back to your original comment:

Kubiak wasn’t “stuck” with David Carr because the opinions of an already fired GM (talk about lame duck) or a consultant that had been out of football for three years. Kubiak was stuck with David Carr because Kubiak was hired by Bob McNair to fix David Carr, not the Houston Texans.

Carr was last to show, first to leave, and had miniscule support in the locker room. All of this was common knowledge with anyone that had a connection to the Texans. Are we to believe that Bob McNair signs a guy to a $46 million dollar contract, makes him the center piece of a $700 million dollar investment and doesn’t know what time the guy shows ups for work?

Kubiak knew what McNair wanted and acted according to his wishes. He wasn’t bamboozled by Casserly and Reeves, who by the way were also influenced by McNair.

[A lot of people in 2006 thought that Carr might be fixable if he worked in a real offensive scheme and had better help around him. Then you could use your draft picks to help other parts of the team. Heck, Casserly AFTER the 2006 season believed that Carr was salvagable. Kubiak had no time to work with Carr before the decision to pick up Carr’s option happened–most of the film was pretty unusuable as Mike Sherman later said. Casserly/Reeves told McNair what McNair wanted to hear–Reeves as a consultant recommended that Carr be kept: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2325442. McNair liked Carr, thought the Texans put him in a bad situation to succeed, and thought he’d be fixable. How would any outsider know any different based on just film of a garbage scheme? Kubiak tried to work with Carr for the 2006 and realized that he had to dumb down the offense to work with him. McNair after that season acknowledged the mistake of keeping Carr. I give Kubiak credit for cutting bait with Carr and building a inexperienced QB into a starter even when the rest of the team wasn’t established–which is not an easy thing to do. Schaub didn’t come into a situation like the Jets for example. -Steph]

Thoughts about a perceived tough division. If their was another division that had a team that constantly went 1-5 or 0-6 in their own division, that would make that Other divison, say, improve from three average 8-8 teams to three 10-6 teams.

I, for one, think Kubiak is a really good coach. That reason is why I think this is a good move.

He built from nothing into something. The team had nothing when he came here. They had a couple of serviceable o-linemen, a decent kicker, a decent CB, and a top WR. Nothing else. (Note: That is all that is left of the team he took over now.) He took that list of useful players, a standard set of draft picks (not an expansion set of bonus picks), with no expansion draft, and he steadily turned the roster over and got a team better and better consistently year to year.

And the team culture has totally changed. I love the attitude I hear from the players and coaches. Practically no me-first types. No boneheads. These players, when they lose, think it is their fault and don’t complain…they just go out and try and get better next time.

I’m sorry that there are people who don’t pay attention to the games, the league, and the game of football itself enough to see that growth, and can only focus on no playoffs, no Super Bowl, 8-8, 8-8, 9-7. Blah. This is a good team, getting better, and giving Kubiak an extension is the right move.

Luckily, McNair is smarter than them. That isn’t that surprising, considering the personal fortune he amassed. I’m glad Houston has a great owner. The crappier owners in other towns would have run a great coach off by now and we’d be resetting for another painful rebuild, just waiting for 3 more years to pass to hit the reset button again.

If Schaub had gotten hurt and failed to put up the numbers he did last season Kubiak would be gone.

The fact is that Schaub stayed healthy, put up big numbers and the Texans had their first winning season. Schaub was Kubiak’s guy.

Those facts alone made the decision to keep Kubiak an easy one. McNair really had no choice, especially considering McNair’s personal philosophy on running a team.

The Texans are committed to the Kubiak/Schaub regime at this point. That doesn’t excite me but I also think they are capable of success if everything falls in the right direction (no serious injuries, steady improvement of the defense, etc.)

“The crappier owners in other towns would have run a great coach off by now and we’d be resetting for another painful rebuild, just waiting for 3 more years to pass to hit the reset button again.” – Dennis

Sorry but, depite the popularity of this sentiment in Houston, Rex Ryan and the Jets (among others) just proved that idea is not true.

If you have drafted well and have the players, a new coach with a great system can have your team playing well the very first year. It only takes longer if you don’t have the players (and the Texans have had several years of high draft picks so I don’t accept that as an excuse for lack of success for the Texans).

[The Ryan situation is a little different. That Jets team was a VERY veteran team. A team likely to had a nice playoff run had Brett Favre’s arm not fallen off at the end of the year. The Texans have had some nice drafts, but their offense is very much tailored to being Kubiak’s offense. Also, changing offenses is harder I think than changing defenses. The Jets kept Brian Schottenheimer as their OC. Yeah, you can have a Rex Ryan situation or a situation like they have in Tampa Bay where the message board administrators had to put a sticky note on their forums saying that you could not call the head coach “Radio” on the boards. (For those who don’t get the dig, here’s a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_%28film%29 ) -Steph]

Well first of all in nutshell, Kuby was in a no win situation with Carr but, he took on the challenge nonetheless. He inherited maybe 6 players that were even NFL caliber, the rest were scrubs. Out of those 6 he had 3 stars and 1 superstar.

Kuby had to challenge Carr to compete EVERY week because, he sadly was not really interested in getting better. He did not take his craft seriously and develop it.

The last 4 games of ’06, Kuby retrofitted a scheme where a lumbering RB gave the Texans the best chance to win and tripled their previous season win total with largely the same cast of characters.

In my opinion, I believe the star players on the team earnestly speaking up and defending their embattled coach made McNair’s decision easier plus, the season ending game vs NE.

Capers got run out of town because he lost fan support but also, he lost the pulse of the locker room with his players. The Texans were playing out the string for most of ’05. They quit on their coach. McNair knew he had to do something.

The subsequent results of leadership change have now distinguished the Texans as a team on the rise instead of a team going nowhere.

So I don’t really get your distraction and excuse bit.

If you cannot see the Texans are a better team and on the verge of something special then that’s because you, Drew and others like you choose to not see it. Enough said.

Peppers came into the league the same year as David Carr. He’s on the downside of his career, for what it’s worth. Would he be a great addition? Absolutely. The downside of Julius Peppers career is still a greater value the upside of a lot of other d-linemen.

Kubiak got an extension to 2012, which puts his service term in line with Rick Smith and the other coaches.

If we can take off our burnt orange or burnt maroon sunglasses for a moment, from a business model point of view, you can’t have lesser employees contracted for longer and contracted for more money than their boss. So from that perspective Bob McNair would be crazy not to give Kubiak an extension, especially when that boss has finally been handed the majority of coaches he’s actually wanted. In light of that, everything he’s done before has been compromised by circumstance. In my humble opinion this complicates the team continuity argument, with reality. From the perspective of a leadership model, it’s hamstringing to have the leader, the head coach, signed for less time than those he leads.

The argument that Kubiak’s division win loss record is poor has some validity, but honestly that record can only be compared with Dom Capers record. Dom Capers AFC South record was 6&18 and he won no games against the Colts, the best team in the AFC South, and twice the best team in the AFC, the best team in the AFC this year that the Texans might have beaten twice had they simply not screwed up and played through. The only reason Dom Capers has the record he does against the AFC South is in year 2004, the Texans won 4 games, 2 against the Jags and 2 against the Titans, 2 teams that were horrible that year. One can always look to see how often Jeff Fischer and Jack Del Rio have beaten the Colts.

So what about continuity?

We saw in the first 3 games, how lost the defense was learning a new, albeit simpler system even with veteran players. I don’t care to change coaches, players and systems every 2 years. As expansion teams go the Texans are already ahead of the Cleveland Browns, and they’ve been in the league longer than the Texans. As long as continuity doesn’t lead to mindless group think, I’m for it. Personally, I don’t think it was really simpler. I think that was just a lie Frank Bush fed the press to throw the fans the requisite bone so they’d stop yapping. Naturally, with this fan base, it was more like throwing gas on an oak fire.

So what about the argument that Kubiak should have turned the team around faster, and the team being left in a mess is just an excuse.

That team had few players, bad free agents consuming more salary cap money than they were worth, and no cap money for free agents, and didn’t have the quarterback they thought they had. Someone might have noticed that, had they bothered to notice in 2004 that almost everything the offense did that was constructive went through Dominik Davis. They went 2&14 without him in 05. That team was an abysmal mess. The Texans have had some nice drafts since 06. Before that we got Andre Johnson. That’s about it.

So what about the other coaches? Is there a perfect coach? There was a time when the Cowher coached Steelers had trouble winning games because their offense was all ball control with Jerome Bettis and if they fell behind by more than 10 points they had no effective passing offense to catch up with. The Steelers were basically average until they got Ben Roethlisberger. Don Shula wasn’t perfect, John Madden wasn’t perfect, hell he’s not even perfect as a broad cast guy. Bum Phillips wasn’t perfect, and Tom Landry wasn’t perfect. I imagine even Vince Lombardi wasn’t perfect. So not only did hallowed super coach not exist for Bob McNair to replace Kubiak with, robocoach doesn’t exist to replace Kubiak with. Fans underestimate most things, especially how much coordinators and position coaches go towards making a good head coach look like a genius, and even more so how much great talent makes up for game day mistakes, talent that this team is finally stock piling. I wonder how long the Texans will be able to keep Rick Dennison.

In other words, Kubiak has just been put on the same timeline as Rick Smith and all the other coaches, and he’s made the Texans more than a bye week.

I was just remembering the good ole days when David Carr was leading the Texans.Anyone remember the begining of the season when Carr grew his hair out all long and said he wasnt going to cut it till they won a game LOL.Man those were the days. When the defence was lucky to make the opposing team settle for a field goal.And the offence was so predictible I was calling 95% of the plays before they where ran.They made me feel like a freakin genius.Yup with the great Jason Babin on the D everything was just awesome.what happened to him anyway? Now they got ole mediocre koobs winning games making houston boring.Soon will be winning playoff games and everything.Man things are changing.A probowl MVP QB and Reciever and both LB not to mention leach and J. jones and Owen Daniels Omg it just goes on and on with these mediocre players. Super Mario Blah Blah Blah .I say fire koobs and bring back Capers and Carr. I loved being the only one wearing a Texans cap. Made me feel special actually. winning games is not for my Texans.Fire koobs and clean the house.LOL

[Jason Babin is with the Eagles. And for Carr’s hair thing, check out this blast from the past: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2004-12-14-hair-cover_x.htm “Carr, who paid $28 for his haircut and left a $100 tip, has since grown back his hair because his wife, Melody, loves it long.” So much wrong in that sentence. Thanks all for reading and commenting. -S]

Steady improvement, great drafts. People that complain of mediocrity must have forgotten what god-awful looks and feels like. Less fumbles mixed with more clutch kicking and this team could’ve very easily finished with anywhere from 10 to 13 wins. If the definition of mediocrity means a legitimate shot to finish in that range year in and year out, then I gladly accept. Kubiak deserves this extension, he’s done a great job turning things around.

Question for you Steph, given the choice between getting either a great DT or S in the first round, which way do you think we should go? It looks like there’s a possibility that Taylor Mays is going to be available, something I wouldn’t have thought possible with this draft spot a year ago. I know it’s early but is there someone (or position) out there you’d rather see us address?

[I’m a BPA kinda person. Unless it is definitely not a position of need (1st round QB, for example) -S]

The Ryan situation is not the only one. Only one of the more recent ones. The Miami Dolphins turned from a terrible team to a pretty good one a year ago and, at least, average this year when Parcells took over the front office.

Point is that there are many different examples over many years.

I guess you can have an opinion but it is really difficult to prove by example. Bottom line: great coaches tend to win wherever they go. And it usually doesn’t take 3 or 4 years. The idea that replacing Kubiak with a great coach would set the organization back just doesn’t hold water.

However, the Texans did not seem to have that option and weren’t particularly interested in going that route at this time.

Still think Kubiak has an awful lot to prove.

[Dolphin faced a particularly weak schedule that year and fixed their QB situation. This year they didn’t do as well. You can give all sorts of examples of situations. But if you believe in Kubiak enough for a lame duck year, and you want to win, then giving him the extension puts him in the best situation to win. Overall, I didn’t see a replacement candidate that I thought would do better with this particular team. -Steph]

Kubiak turning over an entire non-NFL quality roster is totally the same as the Jets improving a defense that already had multiple players better than any on the Texans when Kubiak started, not having to do anything with the offensive line because they already have one of the best, and then limping into the playoffs because the Colts roll over in wk 16. Totally the same.

No, wait. Wasn’t that Jets team in the playoffs with many of the same players just a couple years back? NOT THE SAME.

Sure there are examples of teams that went from mediocre or even bad to playoffs in 1 year. But I’m going to let you in on a secret. THERE IS LUCK IN SPORTS. And as lucky as Miami and Atlanta got last year, that did not follow this year. Houston is a better team than either of those, despite not making the playoffs in the last 3 years. Hell, the Jets made the playoffs with a first year head coach 4 years ago. Then they fired him 3 years later. I guess they disagree that making the playoffs ASAP is most important.

Comparing the Jets or Dolphins situation to the Texans when Kubiak took over is completely irrelevant. Both the Dolphins and the Jets were decent teams before the change and had several pieces already in place (and the Texans were better than the Dolphins this year btw). Kubiak took over a 2-14 team (that was probably lucky to win those 2 games) that probably had only 2 or 3 players worth keeping. He has since made it into a 9-7 team that had a chance to win every game this year except maybe the first. I really think that some of these people must have forgotten how GOD AWFUL the Texans were when Kubiak took over! Are there some things that I think Kubiak could have done better? Absolutely, but I think some people must lack the perspective to see how much better he has made the Texans during his regime…

The D-lineman I’m most licking my chops over isn’t Peppers…it’s Casey Hampton. Stick that guy on the line and rotate the 3-technique next to him. Talk about someone that could re-establish the line of scrimmage in the opponent’s backfield. With him on the line Amobi and Mario might have their best seasons to date. Hope he shakes loose from Pittsburgh.

[I don’t think he’s going anywhere. The Steelers say they want to work a deal with him. Hampton says he wants to be back. Hampton says he doesn’t want to get franchised but like other players, there’s not much leverage he has in the situation. -S]

I wonder who the coach / team will be that the half-empty crowd compares Kubiak and the Texans to next year? I hope it’s Jimmy Johnson’s Cowboys or Vince Lombardi’s Packers. Last year (and apparently still this year) people talked about Miami. This year it is the Jets and New Orleans. Of course, these comparisons are ridiculous. Miami barely edged out their division last season when Brady got hurt, and lost to the Texans. This year they fell back. No thank you to the Miami model, unless it includes Indy losing Peyton Manning. Let’s see, who would have won the division if Manning had gone down this season – probably the second place Houston Texans. Texans > Dolphins.

This year, the Jets and Saints come up. The Jets finished with the same record as the Texans, and had to have two teams roll over for them to get that. I find it pretty funny that people claim the Patriots didn’t try to beat Houston, then want to talk about how great Ryan’s Jets were in the same post. Ridiculous. The Texans got better as the year progressed, the Jets did not.

As for the Saints, you have to respect them making it to the Super Bowl. But their road has been a bit easier. I don’t think Carolina, Atlanta, and Tampa present the same challenge as Indy, Tenn, and Jax. And while New Orleans seems to have put it together this year, they had to go through a couple down years to get to where they are now – I guess their owner’s patience is being rewarded.

The Texans major hurdle has always been their own division. They have dominated the NFC lately (9-3 over the past 3 seasons), and handled leaders from other AFC divisions the last two years (Miami, Cincy, New England). They could do some damage in the playoffs if they could just get past their own division rivals. Hopefully they add the players in the offseason to improve by one score per game. One score per game this season would have been enough to make their record 15-1, or 12-1-3 if you assume no overtime scoring. I know the half-empty crowd will say this is impossible, but the Texans improved their average point difference by 5 points this year and by 6 points in 2007. They must have had some good coaching or something.

[Interesting article about how long The Peyton has been with Tom Moore–talking about patience being rewarded–some of the issues that were issues with The Peyton early in his career are no longer: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/colts/2010-02-03-peyton-manning-tom-moore-cover_N.htm This sort of continuity is what the Texans are fighting in division. Fisher has been with the same team for 16 years. Jack Del Rio for 7. It’s not much of a surprise with that much continuity, the AFC South has been the most winning division in the NFL over the last decade. -Steph]

I guess I just don’t get it, just like with Wade Phillips in Dallas. Why would anyone give a new contract to a coach that has not met your expectations? Kubiak had a mandate from the owner at the beginning of the year that it was playoffs or bust. Heck, I know I heard Kubiak say the same thing at the begining of last season. No playoffs = failure according to their own criteria. But yet he gets a new 3 year deal, with a raise to boot? I don’t get it. Nowhere in the real world can you not meet expectations and get more job security and a raise.

JJ, in Dallas, had higher expectations of Son of Bum. He didn’t live up to them got a hefty raise and another year! I am really perplexed!!!

If you accept mediocrity, that is what will be delivered. I believe that both Kubiak and Phillips had decent years last year and should have been brought back for their final year, but no way did either one deserve to get additional time or raises. Neither has accomplished squat! But if you don’t progress this year both deserved to lose their jobs, without additional compensation! Steph you are making the case for the extensions, I say poppycock! Their job performance in the past does not merit an extension and only if they progress this next season should either be given a new contract. It’s called meeting or exceeding expectations and it is something we all have to do. Why not these coaches?

One last point, I watched both teams (Texans and Cowboys)and I guess the reason I support both teams bringing back their respective coaches was because at the end of the season when both teams were struggling and it looked like the coaches were going to be fired, the teams played their butt’s off to save the coaches jobs. In my opinion, if the coaches can get the players to play at those levels again next season, on a consistent basis, then they deserve new contracts. Anything less than that and they should be let go. In Dallas when in seemed Wade had done enough to keep his job, what happened? They layed another egg! Pathetic!

Again, I just don’t get it!

[So if coaches don’t meet their own high expectations, goals that they do not have complete control over (given the performance of other teams, injuries, etc), then they should be fired? Your argument taken to its logical conclusion calls for firing most NFL coaches. Just about every year. -S]

What are the chances Peppers comes to the TEXANS? I heard he only wants to play in a 3-4 D. I think he would be a great fit here in H-town. If he wants to win than this is the team to be on for next year.

[I do not think the chances are good. I think the 3-4 talk was just posturing, and some of the 3-4 teams he would have been interested in are not viable destinations for him given the final 8 plan. Even so, I’m having a hard time seeing a scenario where that happens. -Steph]

1) After last years debacle with Dunta, I doubt Kubiak would allow this to become a distraction. The media, on the other hand, would try, since it makes for good stories like this.

2) WRONG!!! This was the main reason cited for our need to get a new OC and assistant. Doesn’t seem to have been an issue yet. Superbowl isn’t even over and we filled the needs already. Once again, building something out of nothing. Too many pluses with the Texans to even consider this a minus.

3) Maybe, but these guys are professional. I think keeping the team together another year would speak more than this. The Texans stood fast on Ryans, Owens, and Robinson, and we had our best year yet. So that kind of kills this point.

4) You’re kidding, right? How many new coaches get handed a great team? Indy is quite the exception. And quite frankly a lot of his decisions have been questioned.

5) Can not argue too much with this point, but we did get our butts handed to us by our division rivals, which makes me question really how good this team is. Until we can dominate this division, then Kubiaks job should be at risk.

6) Not sure what this has to do with Kubiak’s extension. This sound more like players individual performance enhancement, but I did say before I think keeping the team together close to as is would be smart.

7) I believe Kubes had another year left, so why would we need a replacement?

Anyhow, all in the past since he got a new contract. Looking forward to the next season and hoping Kubes earns the new contract.

[With both the assistant coaches hirings, McNair let the assistants know that Kubiak’s contract was going to be extended. Free agency is coming up and seeing everyone signed through 2012 will give them a sense that this isn’t a team in the middle of transition–just because one coach wants a player doesn’t mean another coach will be good with that player. -Steph]

I wish folks would stop with the “hey, let’s get [INSERT NAME OF OVER-THE-HILL VETERAN FA HERE]! Then the Texans will really be legitimate!”Texans don’t need Julius Peppers. Texans don’t need LT. Texans need ANOTHER GREAT DRAFT, m’kay?That’s it.

[Some “over the hill” free agents have made some big impacts around the league last year. Darren Sharper is playing in the Super Bowl. Brian Dawkins for the Broncos may be a big reason why that team had one of the biggest one season turnarounds in the history of the league. Some name free agents do not work, some do, and some might just work in the short term but not so much in the long term. You need to find a good fit for a team, and have some luck that the guy stays healthy. I wouldn’t mind bringing some free agents to Houston that are already pre-trained up if they are an upgrade over what we already have on the field. Pickings are slim, and the cost might be high, but I have an open mind to it. -Steph]

How many new coaches get handed a great team? Indy is quite the exception. –Posted by: Capt Obvious at February 4, 2010 01:17 PMAs are Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and San Diego, just to name three off the top of my head.Next are the “very promising teams” like Miami, Dallas, Jets, Denver, San Francisco, and Arizona.Those are teams that changed head coaches in the last few seasons, and quickly got to the top.It is very rare to have a team go from “yuk” to “playoffs” in short order. The teams of note that go from 6-10 to 10-6 in one season are all odd situations, where they had injuries that cleared up, or the addition of just one or two pieces made all the difference, etc., because the foundation for a good team was already there.The Texans were CR*P when Kubiak took over before the 2006 season. Not just a brick or two shy of a full load: CR*P. Bad on offense, bad on defense, bad on special teams.Rather than having just one or two pieces missing, they had one or two pieces of any consequence, and EVERYTHING ELSE was missing.Does anyone expect the Raiders or Rams to contend next season now that they’ve made their “few key changes?”I’m not on the Kubiak bandwagon by any means, but let’s get real, here.

No playoffs = failure according to their own criteria. –Posted by: James N at February 4, 2010 12:15 PMHad the Jets lost the last game of the season the Texans would have made the playoffs.Does that mean that the Texans would have “succeeded?” But because the Jets won, the Texans “failed?”This all-or-nothing thinking has me puzzled, especially since there are so many variables.I’m with you that they had a disappointing season – 1-5 in division, four-game losing streak (which accounted for the 1-5 in division), etc. But this isn’t a “pass-fail” system.

My biggest problem with all of the “fire Kubiak now” crowd is that they blame ever loss on him. When I watch/look back at our loses last year it appears that it was more a lack of defensive stops than anything else. Even the missed FG’s would not have mattered if the defense had made just one more late game stop.

[Good thought. But didn’t you read the memo? All losses are because of coaches, and all wins are because of great players? -S]